


Reunion

by timdadanon



Series: Silver Skull [5]
Category: The Aquabats! Super Show!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Gen, Mentions of surgery, mentions of brain washing, mentions of severe burns, roasting a guy you just met
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-12 13:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timdadanon/pseuds/timdadanon
Summary: "Adam is alive but in bad (yet stable!!!) shape. Come to the Professor’s lab- Ricky"





	1. Introduction

The plan was “Guys Night”. Just him and Chainsaw, out for bowling and chicken wings. Flirting with the waitress who liked him and let him know it, Chainsaw beating him at bowling again. The typical Friday night plan. 

Except there was a giant, bittersweet wrench in the cogs tonight. A text to Chainsaw from a number that had not messaged them in months, with the last text being a campy glitter GIF letting them know their Christmas card was on its way in the mail.

_Adam is alive but in bad_ _(_ _yet_ _stable!!!_ _)_ _shape. C_ _ome to the Professor’s lab- Ricky_

Now they were five minutes from their former home; Chainsaw sat in the drivers seat hoping he didn’t look as teary as he felt while Catboy glared out the window.

When they arrived at the Lab, they were greeted before the y could even get out of the car by one of Catboy’s least favorite people, the MC Bat Commander.

“Hey! I'm  s toked you guys could make it ! I wasn’t sure you two woul-”

Catboy stuck his head out the car  window ,  a snarl playing across his face .

“We aren’t here to see you, Zippo. Just let us  in already. ”

The grin of their former Commander faded as he opened the Lab’s door for them. Before Catboy could exit the car, Chainsaw  tightly grabbed his wrist.

“Catboy, I know  you two don’t get along anymore, and I know you have the burn scars to prove it, but that was unnecessary. The last thing Adam needs to see right now is you two fighting about something that happened a decade ago. If you upset Adam, I WILL punt you into next month.”

Catboy  sighed in defeat and slumped back into the passenger chair.

“ That’s fair, I guess .”

The building that had become known simply as “The Lab” to the Aquabats had once been some sort of clinical testing laboratory that none of them bothered to remember the history of. The lobby had long since lost any formality or prestige the facility may have had, being renovated into a funky sort of living room or lounge. Both men had dozens of fond memories of this place, despite how long it had been since they’d last visited. The Commander had already shirked away, much to the relief of both Catboy and Chainsaw, leaving the Professor and an unfamiliar, Hot Topic-esque man with fittingly asymmetric hair as the room’s only occupants. While the stranger didn’t react to their presence, as soon as the Professor saw the retired band members enter the room, he sprang up from his chair and sprinted over to greet them, pulling them into a hug.

“ Oh,  I've missed you two so much! how long has it been since you visited?”

Catboy and Chainsaw were both still on edge from the alarming text they’d received , so they were caught off guard by the Professor’s nostalgia and good spirits. After a moment of awkward silence, Chainsaw spoke up.

“Uhhh... It was a few years back, actually. Ironically, I think it was when we, um. Threw the funeral for Adam. After he’d hit his 7 year mark for being missing and all and was legally presumed dead.”

Monty awkwardly snickered in a manner not typically reserved for discussing funerals.

“Yes, well... You two know where your rooms are, and-

Catboy scowled, interrupting him.

“Yeah, but how is Adam?! The text from Ricky we got said he was in bad shape! What happened? Where has he been all these years?!”

Monty looked surprised at the outburst.

“Well, he’s been sleepy since the surgery, as to be expected, but the physical part of the recovery should be quick. ”

This answer did not comfort Monty’s guests as much as he hoped it would, as evidenced by  Chainsaw’s reply .

“What? Why did he need surgery? And just what do you mean by ‘physically in good shape,’ is he in a bad place mentally?”

The Professor sighed, rubbing his temples as his normally chipper demeanor  cracked . 

“M got him. He did... Something awful. For Adam’s sake, I won’t go into too much detail, but... I had to remove a lot of foreign objects from his body, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had long term mental side effects. Heck, It’s pretty much a guarantee. If the invasive substances didn’t cause any brain damage, the trauma will, and he’s still dealing with a decade’s worth of amnesia.”

The room filled with silence for moment, followed by another question from Chainsaw.  This time, however, his voice was quiet. 

“Can we see him?”

Monty gave him a sad smile. 

“I'll go check up on him. If he’s well enough he’ll come out here here to see you. If not, I’ll come back and take you to visit with him.”

Chainsaw nodded,  giving a relieved smile. 

“Thank you, Professor. ”

As soon as the Professor was gone,  the two guests then shifted their focus to the edgy looking stranger,  Chainsaw flashing an awkward wave  before sitting down next to him.

“ So , uh what’s your name kid?”

Catboy stared down the ‘Bats newest recruit, looking vaguely impressed.

“Skillsawz . ”

Catboy gave him a look and rolled his eyes .

“ Your  _real_ name , ” he said, as though he didn’t regularly introduce himself as Catboy.

“ That is my real name , ” he scowled.

“ First or last name?  O r is it , like, Skill Sawz ? ”

“Do you prefer Mr. Sawz?” Chainsaw piped in. “Is Skill short for Skilliam? Or Skilfred?”

“Maybe it’s Skillian. Or Skilbert. Long John Skilver.”

The pair’s teasing seemed to get to him, as he groaned and looked down in defeat, running a hand through his oily black hair. 

“Okay, fine, fine! It doesn't even matter, i’m dropping that old stage name anyway. It’s Skylar. Skylar Skylles”

Chainsaw looked up, visibly amused.

“Skylles? You’re kidding… how you spell that, kid? Sky-double L-E-S?”

Skillsawz blinked, visibly caught off guard.

“How did you..?”

Chainsaw folded his arms and grinned.

“That’s my ma’s maiden name. Who’s your dad?”

Skillsawz had a look of surprise. He’d heard the whole “small world” thing, but this?

“…Arlyn”

Catboy snickered.

“Well that’s a South Bay name if I’ve ever heard one!”

Skillsawz looked confused.

“... South Bay?”

Chainsaw gave him a sympathetic look.

“Well, Catboy, I’m afraid  Cruella deSkill  here is my cousin. Ma told me Uncle Arl left the island  one day and never came back . Always did wonder what happened to him... Guess we know now, though I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you where he was from.”

Skillsawz looked as curious as he did unnerved.

“ Okay, well, now that we’ve dissected my ENTIRE family tree, who are you guys? ”

Catboy gave a sly grin, puffing up his chest.

“Mike Gerudo, of the Cataloopus Gerudos! But  _you_ can call me Catboy.”

Chainsaw snorted, shaking his head at Catboy’s clownish lack of humility.

“And I’m Chainsaw, Prince Of Karate. I was named after our oldest uncle,  k id.”

Skillsawz seemed dazed, his eyes locking into Chainsaw.

“So... You guys are from the same place as my dad, huh? I heard it got destroyed, but... Could any of our other relatives be alive?”

He seemed strangely hopeful, and Chainsaw awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

Catboy was the first of the two to meet his eyes directly.

“ Look, kid... I know Chainsaw was able to find one of his five brothers, but for the most part , the bulk of the population of the island has been presumed dead, if not worse.  Only around 10 to 15 percent of the island was able to evacuate and make it over here.  F or the rest of those numbers, we’ve have had no contact with them , so we have choice but to assume the worst.  We’ve herd rumors ranging from everyone going underground to restart life, to mass slavery, to being lab rats, to being wiped out completely. ”

T he color drained from Skylar’s face.

“ And-  So I was... Helping  those who did it? I’m a former Minion of Silver skull, he got me a bad  time and dragged me along into his plans. I was told after the fact  I was at one of the lower points of M’s chain of command . I mean, if I knew I was working for any sort of mass murderer-- ”

Chainsaw let out a  long , sad sigh.

“Look, kid. you were working someone who didn’t want you to know you were part of something bigger. You couldn’t have known why Silver Skull hated the Aquabats, or that some giant, evil, floating head warlord was calling the shots. More importantly, when you saw something was fishy, you bailed, right? And then you joined forces with the bats.You’re probably blaming yourself for what happened, but don’t: you might have been in a pretty low place, but you already dug yourself out of that hole, and if you want, I can stick around for a bit and help you get your footing in your new life. Even if you don’t, The Aquabats will help with the rest. Just believe in them, and yourself. Especially now that your one of ‘em.”

Skylar  gave a small smile, the expression looking almost out of place for him.

“... I think I’d like that. Would you mind starting with South Bay? It would be cool to know where my family’s from. ”


	2. Conversation

Food. Food was on the mind at the moment. Anything was a welcome distraction from the less comforting aspects of the situation, and a good meal was a fine way to not think about minor brain surgery.

Jimmy and Bones were in the kitchen, making dinner for everybody. The plan was spaghetti for eight, as they were expecting visitors and Adam was still on limited diet after “removing the alien brain plugs from your skull” surgery. Jimmy would do pasta, Bones would do sauce. They were not going to talk about all the things that made them uncomfortable.

As they took a short break, the Commander walked in, as if on cue.

“Catboy and  Chainsaw are here , ” he announced, lacking in his usual enthusiasm.

Jimmy sighed. “Catboy is still mad, isn’t he?”

“ He called me Zippo . ”

Jimmy hissed  through  his teeth and  sighed, shaking his head.

“You think he’d  have moved past that by now!”

“ Past what? ”

Both sets of eyes shifted to  B ones

“It’s, a- well, okay,” The Commander wrung his hands. “We- I should have told you earlier but, well, I didn’t expect it to come up, and I don't like talking about it. So I won’t. Jimmy, you tell him. I'm gonna go hang out with Crash.”

“ No problem . ”

The Commander left as  B ones ’ focus shifted to Jimmy .

“Um, is it bad? The thing?”

Jimmy paused for a second before answering .

“It’s a little complicated.  Do you know why the Commander is so touchy about having powers?”

Just as Catboy and Chainsaw were wrapping up an explanation of traditional ocean raft racing, a figure shuffled into the room. He was as pale as sunscreen, with dark circles around his eyes that looked like either bruises or a serious lack of sleep. The black sleeves of a rash guard were visible underneath an old 4XL Reel Big Fish t-shirt that he wore as a sort of impromptu poncho. He looked tired, bruised and scared, with a good bit of his scalp and forehead wrapped up in bandages. Despite this, his eyes lit up when he spotted the three of them.

Catboy  gave the stranger a thorough look-over from where he sat. While the newcomer gave off the physical vibe of a skeleton with some skin, that was certainly no reason not to be friendly.

“Heeeey, zombie dude!” Catboy greeted enthusiastically. “Do you work for the Professor? We’re here to visit our pal Adam, any idea when he’ll be up?”

The stranger only seemed amused for a half-second before his smile fell to the floor. He stared with wide eyes, and as Catboy looked at the other pairs of wide eyes to either side of him, he was starting to get the feeling that he’d made a mistake.

“Catboy...  You’ve done a lot of really stupid things in your life, ” Chainsaw groaned. 

“Aw, come on!” Catboy rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say there’s anything _wrong_ with having a zombie face. He’s just got a cool vibe.”

The stranger put a hand to his own face. Shoot, was his lip starting to quiver.

Catboy gave in. “Alright, I’m sorry. Looking back on it, that wasn’t the right first impression to make. Let’s start over. My name—”

“Shut up!” Chainsaw barked. “You’re going to make Adam cry!”

Catboy looked ready  to go dunk himself in the neatest open chemical vat and never come out.

“ Oh.  O-oh, no. ”

Catboy  rushed over to the prince, frozen in place with shock.

“I'm  so, so  sorry dude! I didn’t-”

Adam smiled weakly. “I really look that bad, huh?”

“Do you _really_ want him to answer that?” Skylarcut in.

Chainsaw gave Skylar a quick slug on the arm while Catboy continued to trip over his apologies. He only managed to shut up when the three of them were yanked by the guitarist into a group hug.

“We just need to get some duct tape on this guy’s lips,” Chainsaw mumbled.

It had been a long time since  Monty  had set the table for eight. Sure, he could have gotten someone else to do it for him, but he was hoping that the boring task could take his mind off things. What a weekend!  One day, everything is going just fine, then the next, the Robot is missing! And then he comes back, with none other than Prince Adam in tow! Then, he ha s  to do emergency surgery on an unstable patient, because god only knows what M did to him ! And to top it off, now Catboy and Chainsaw were here! It was just too much to handle .

“ Got a minute? ”

Monty  turned to the doorway see Ricky,  looking near to tears. He quickly pulled out two chairs from the dining room table, taking a seat in one and gesturing to the other. 

“Got a lot on your mind?

“Mm-hm,” Ricky sat down with his gaze firmly on the floor.

“I think we all  do, Ricky . ”

“Yeah.”

Giving comfort was harder than Monty remembered. He knew what he wanted to say,  but figuring out the right words wasn’t easy.

“I know how much you  looked up to  him as a kid , ” Monty tried.

“As a kid?” Ricky laughed a little. “Jeez, I’m practically still a kid. And I still idolize him.”

Monty  gave a little smile as Ricky kept going .

“I was so little when you guys took me  in,  and Adam was probably the most, ready to parent I guess?  L ike , he really kinda encouraged me to keep on the  health and  fit ness thing, and I needed that. ”

Monty  gave a small, sad smile .

“Well, he certainly had to pass down his ‘token health nut’ title to you before he could leave the band. That and the title of ‘everyone’s baby brother’.”

Ricky sniffled as his expression changed. 

“I guess the other big thing is, even if I wasn't screwed up by aliens, I know what it's like to be manipulated by someone nasty. I remember what I was like before I joined you guys, I was a one way trip to life in prison before 20.”

Monty nodded , recalling the first time the tough little street kid had set foot in his lab. .

“Well, for your case you were a poor kid who just needed direction. And in Adam’s… well, I'm very glad for the state’s brainwashing victim protection laws.”

“I do have one last  thing I wanted to ask about. ”

“ Yes?”

“Do you think Adam will ever be ‘back to normal?’ I mean, like, are things going to be okay again?”

The Professor  was at a loss for words, and he wasn’t very good at hiding it. He stood up from his chair and put a soft hand on Ricky’s shoulder.

“No matter what happens, we’ll make it okay. We’ve never been very good at defining ‘normal’ under this roof.”

Ricky’s eyes were hopeful as he looked up at the Professor


	3. conclusion

Before Catboy could shove his foot deeper into his mouth ,  someone enter ed the room.  He  didn’t recognize them, but  Chainsaw did.

“ _C_ _rash_ , my man! Come to join us?”

Crash looked at the faces in the room, his thick eyebrows furrowed, a scowl hidden behind his beard.

“I need to borrow Catboy . ”

Catboy  hesitated nervously as he stood up .

“Uh, okay,” Catboy looked back to Adam, Skylar, and Chainsaw. “Later, you three.”

And with that  Crash led him  out the door, through a cramped hallway, to a smaller lounge in the lab , where  the Commander was waiting.  Catboy stopped in his tracks, but before he could even scoff, Crash spoke.

“ _Y_ _ou two_ are gonna _make up_ , or at the very least _fake_ being made up enough around _Adam_. He's had a _crazy hard time_ and he deserves _better_ than you two _bickering_ over crap from _before he went missing_!”

Catboy huffed and crossed his arms.

“ Only if  _fireball_ over here  keeps his powers in check . ”

The other two men looked at Catboy like he had grown a second head.  They were dumbfounded.

“ What are you two looking at me like  _that_ for? You know what I’m friggin’ talking about. Duh, so you don’t catch me on  _fire_ again?”

The Commander blinked, genuinely surprised. 

“My... powers? I \- Catboy, I haven't had _any_ powers for over a decade.”

Catboy choked on his next words in shock. Eyes wide, staring at the Commander, then Crash, looking for the truth in their expressions.

“You - what, I… _what happened_?”

“I didn't want to hurt anyone close to me like… what happened to you, ever again. So… I had Monty take them away.”

“ _W_ _hy didn’t you tell me?_ ”

M CBC scoffed and his eyes narrowed.

“I _did_ _!_ I wrote you a letter and everything. Did you not get it?”

Catboy  paused in thought for a second , and then  \-  the color drained from his face .

“I got it, but I assumed it was some… BS, non-apology. So I shredded it without reading it.”

The Bat Commander looked at Catboy, and Catboy looked at the Bat Commander. Blinking at each other.

Then a chuckle rose from Crash, building into raucous guffaws , soon joined by the  laughter of the  other two.  The oddity of the situation hit them all at once , and their laughter filled the room, releasing  _years_ of anger, guilt, and hostility.

The giggles died down, and Catboy wiped his eyes, before putting his hand out to the Bat Commander - he decided to call a truce with a handshake.

“Listen. I'm… sorry for acting immature. And I forgive you for what happened.”

C ommander s niffled, and smiled.

“I'm sorry for those third degree burns. And I forgive you for calling me Zippo.”

Crash grinned ear-to-ear underneath his beard, proud he had completed his mission. 

“ _Alright!_ We’re all  _buddies again!_ ”

W ith th at, the three went back to laughing, feeling lighter this time. Happier.

Meanwhile, a few doors down from the Commander’s and Catboy’s heart-to-heart, Chainsaw, Skillsawz, and Prince Adam  sat around in awkward silence, all wondering when Catboy would come back. Listening to the clock tick. 

Adam braved to break the suffocating silence.

“ So… if you don’t mind me asking - what happened to your hand?”

Chainsaw looked down to his prosthetic limb.  He’d had the seamless replacement  for so long that he often forgot it wasn’t his  _first_ hand, save for the occasional phantom pain , or the times he replaced this prosthetic for his cool arm-chainsaw.

“ _S_ _urprisingly_ , I didn't lose it in battle. I just had a bad slip while woodworking. The prosthetic is pretty great, though.”

Adam looked on, as his old friend flexed his robotic hand .

“ When did you lose it?”

Chainsaw looked up in thought. The clock ticked on.

“Um. 06’. I left the Bats after that. In 07’ I got this nifty prosthetic robot hand that allowed me to play guitar again. ‘Round 08’ I got warped up with some uh… Cynotians. You remember them? Supernova. Anyway \- I joined their band for a year or two, and then ended up rooming with Catboy after that.”

Adam nodded . More clock ticking.

“How much did Monty tell you? About me.”

“A little. But he was very vague.”

Adam  frowned. Tick, tick, tick.

“ So did he tell you M brainwashed me into being Silver skull ? ”

The silence filled with shock - Chainsaw’s eyes looked ready to exit their sockets .

“He \- he did _not_ _._ But I guess that explains the... bandages.”

Chainsaw went quiet , just staring at Adam . He didn’t know what else to say. Time moved like glue. Skylar broke the devastating silence.

“It's uh, it’s to cover his _brain_ _control device_ scars. Monty had to remove it from his skull.”

Adam forced a  weak smile toward Chainsaw’s horrified face.

“I actually just woke up from the surgery . ”

Skylar  glanced from Chainsaw to Adam.

“ Were you out that  _entire time_ ? ”

“ No, I  was conscious when they  checked up on me a couple times - I was awake for like 5 minutes each time, only to roll back afterwards … ”

Tick, tick, tick.

The quiet was broken by the  _shhhf_ of the hallway door and Ricky’s excited footsteps.

“Hey guys! Dinner’s ready, we’re having spaghetti, and _guess who_ _just_ _stopped bickering_ _?_ ”

All three faces lit  up at once, bright like Christmas trees.

The dinner was simple, but smelled _amazing_. The table was set for 10, fit for different diets - 8 plates for pasta, a solar car battery set near the end of the table, and, in the midst of the pasta sea, a big jug of water for Adam. Everyone served themselves up and got down to their seats. There was menial chat as everyone began to chow down - except for Adam, who glanced over his old and new family, and started a conversation.

“I'm surprised I wasn't presumed dead with how long I was gone . ”

The table grew silent as the Bats slowly stopped eating, shared looks at each other, then all stared at MCBC, who they decided to be the one to tell Adam. 

“ _A_ _ctually_ , uh… you were. You know that one orange tree behind the lab you always read under? Well… we buried most of your stuff and one of your uniforms in a casket down there. As you know-”

Adam sighed , and the Bat Commander waved his arms around in a strained shrug.

“Aquabanian tradition … ”

Ricky blurted out an idea before the next awkward silence  had a chance to ooze into the air .

“Hey, we should totally have a Anti-Funeral now.”

Everyone straightened up in their seats with that thought.

“Okay - we  _gotta_ dig up the  casket . ”

“ It's probably more of a time capsule at this point - ”

“ What all did we put in there?”

“We’ll all need to dress as loudly as possible!”

“I've still got my Getup from the Cal State Fullerton show -”

“ Even the floaty?”

“ Even the floaty!”

“Oh god, that thing was _gaudy_ _…_ ”

The pasta dinner was full of gleeful laughter, stories - plans. The Aquabats and crew were having a good time, something they’d been missing out on for so long. Adam smiled to himself as he watched his friends cry with laughter, share tales of different adventures, goof around like old times. The pain and terror Adam had been through - everything The Aquabats had been through for each other - subsided in the wake of this single moment they came together.

After all , they were family, and they were all overdue for a reunion.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to @Feelysonheelys, Arthur, and May for editing this with me
> 
> on publication skillawz civilan name was take from his actor Matt Gorney, but now Matt has had an Aquabat role (Smash McLarson) i've decided to change it


End file.
